Vrai = real / true (adjectives that change meaning according to position) : French language lesson

Note that certain adjectives change their meanings depending if they appear before or after the noun.

Look at these uses of vrai:

Une histoire vraie.
A true story.

Une vraie histoire.
Quite a story.

Before the noun, vrai means quite a / elaborate / interesting.

After the noun, vrai means true/real.

Note that generally adjectives appear after the noun, but some very common adjectives go before.

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Adjectif

Examples and resources

Une vraie histoire.
Quite a story.

Une histoire vraie.
A true story.

Q&A

Cécile

Kwiziq language super star

23 March 2019

23/03/19

Hi Friend,

If you mean in 'de beaux arbres' -

Take a look at the following Kwiziq lesson which will illustrate this little rule -

https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/revision/grammar/use-de-d-instead-of-des-in-front-of-adjectives-preceding-nouns-partitive-article

Hope this helps!

Friend

Kwiziq community member

23 March 2019

23/03/19

Merci! Wow, I've been using "des" in front of adjectives for years. Very embarrassing.

Blix

Kwiziq community member

23 February 2018

23/02/18

I retract my question.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

27 January 2017

27/01/17

Bonjour Melody ! Could you please clarify what you mean here ? Merci :)

Melody

Kwiziq community member

27 January 2017

27/01/17

I was also referencing the lesson https://progress.lawlessfrench.com/my-languages/french/review/3002/605527 It's easy to miss the fact while faux obeys the usual rules, vrai does not. Other opposites do. I made the wrong assumption about vrai/ faux. All I was suggesting was adding this as a link to the current lesson, or noting in the lesson linked above, that vrai and faux to not behave in the same way as other opposites.

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

28 October 2016

28/10/16

Bonjour Joakim ! First of all, well done! That's quite a challenge! As for "vrai", the nuance of position is more complicated than this. As I told you before, generally speaking, a lot of adjectives can be used either before or after the noun. Used "after", adjectives' meaning is more literal, objective or based on neutral observation (thus "vrai" meaning "true/real" in an objective manner there), whereas used "before", adjectives take on more of a subjective, figurative or based on opinion meaning ("vrai" expressing more of an opinion of something = "a real man"). So while "un test vrai" would sound very neutral, using "un vrai test" here is also perfectly acceptable, and brings a extra "value" layer to the expression: "a test worthy of that name".

Aurélie

Kwiziq language super star

6 September 2016

6/09/16

Bonjour John ! We completely agreed with$your suggestions, and edited the lesson accordingly! Merci et à bientôt !

Katie

Kwiziq community member

13 November 2016

13/11/16

Following your comments here, shouldn't the title of the lesson also be changed to reflect your edits? As such: Adjectives That Change Meaning According to Position - vrai (quite, elaborate, interesting / real, true)